The new model will allow for more frequent engagement with keyboard artists and audiences
Dr Pierre van der Westhuizen, Executive and Artistic Director of the Gilmore, has announced that the Gilmore Piano Festival will become an annual festival beginning in the spring of 2026. The decision to shift the festival from biennial to annual was reached after consulting with a wide variety of stakeholders, who expressed a desire to experience the outstanding keyboard artistry more regularly. In addition to the change in frequency, the festival will also be shorter in duration each year.
2006 Gilmore artist Ingrid Fliter in recital at this year’s Festival:
Transitioning to an annual festival will allow The Gilmore to work more closely with distinguished artists from the fields of classical, jazz, and other musical genres. More frequent collaborations with the Gilmore Artist Award recipients will allow them to showcase projects that may have gone unseen by festival audiences under the previous biennial model. Moreover, the transition will facilitate more commissions of new classical and jazz piano works and expand The Gilmore’s educational and community engagement initiatives. An annual festival also aims to benefit the entire Kalamazoo community, attracting piano enthusiasts nationwide each year. This influx of visitors will bolster local businesses and foster economic growth.
Watch this film about the purchase of two new Steinways for the Festival in 2022:
The first annual festival in 2026 coincides with the naming of the first-ever Larry J. Bell Jazz Artist. Mirroring the Gilmore Artist Award for classical pianists, the Jazz Artist Award will be bestowed on a jazz pianist selected by an anonymous committee. World-class jazz pianists — including Kenny Barron, Chick Corea, Ray Charles, Eliane Elias, Sullivan Fortner, Hiromi, Brad Meldau Dr. Lonnie Smith, and Herbie Hancock — have appeared at The Gilmore Piano Festival since its inception, and the new Larry J. Bell Jazz Artist Award solidifies the festival’s commitment to this important American art form. Like the Gilmore Artist Award, the Bell Jazz Artist Award will be given every four years.
Created in 1989 to honour the legacy of Kalamazoo businessman and philanthropist Irving S. Gilmore, the Gilmore Piano Festival has since presented 16 biennial festivals, commissioned over 40 new works for the piano, and named 9 Gilmore Artists and 40 Gilmore Young Artists. In addition to the festival, The Gilmore presents concerts throughout the year ensuring that world-class piano music is presented continually. In addition, a major program dedicated to community engagement and music education touches the lives of thousands of area children and adults by offering neighbourhood concerts, piano lessons in elementary schools, music therapy, group lessons for adults, toddler-friendly concert experiences, summer piano camp, master classes, and much more.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Honens Prize Laureate Illia Ovcharenko (pictured) kicks off the 2024-25 season on Sunday 15 September. Tickets are still available to purchase.
